End shunning or lose tax free status

by kneehighmiah 62 Replies latest jw friends

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  Old Goat

  Doubting,

  But those are other issues. Tax churches? I don't care. Use it as blackmail to make someone talk to us? That's wrong.

  It's also wrong for an ecclesiastical authority to step into family life. The Watchtower does that frequently.

  Religion does not have the character it did in the colonial era or for 125 years after 1776. I doubt Madison would see it in the same light if he were alive today. Not taxing religion is a hold over from the era of state churches.

  My secondary issue is what some point to as the truth about the truth. The real issues are not historical. Most of those are not historically accurate anyway. No one checks. I read some nasty comments about the Brooklyn Eagle trial. Those who made them never read the transcript. It's not that hard to find, and if we assert things that aren't so, we prove to Witnesses that we are what they think we are.

  The real issues are social and biblical. (At least for me, they are). For many here shunning is a prime issue. Because the right to associate is both a human and constitutional right, any attempt to force our association on those who do not wish it is wrong. Sunning is meant to punish. It's very effective as a punishment. It is not effective if one intends it to lead to repentance. It's a quarantine. As practiced by Witnesses, it is not apostolic. But shunning is a biblical practice.

  Seeking to force association is childish. Take your ball home and play with someone else!

  I seldom attend. As I've said elsewhere on this board, I'm nearly 90. I don't see well. I don't hear clearly. I'm dependent on others for travel.

  I don't spread my personal beliefs. I'm conflicted in some areas because I've spent the bulk of my life as a Witness and believe much of the doctrine. I don't believe the wild approach to prophecy. I don't believe that one can legitimately turn an illustration into a prophecy, the prime current example of which is the faithful servant illustration. I reject Watchtower anti-intellectualism. I earned my PhD in the late 1950s. Even then there was a strong but bifurcated view of education. F. W. Franz was praised for his rather inadequate schooling; others were viewed with some skepticism for their education, no matter how long or well they served the congregations.
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  Giordano

  The WTBTS applies a 'forced unity' policy on anyone who questions just about anything and it doesn't matter if the Society is proven wrong, changes it's mind reverses itself or flip flops all over the place....the Society is never punished. But if one of it's baptized members argues a different opinion and holds to it they will be DFed. Their closest relatives and friends are then coerced with the threat of being DF if they don't shun the person. If in later years the policy changes to exactly what that Dd person had said it should have been.......... they don't reach out and reinstate that person.

  'Unity above all' was always valued more then truth itself.
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  cofty

  Seeking to force association is childish. Take your ball home and play with someone else! - Old Goat

  Obviously "forcing association" is foolish, but that isn't the point.

  The WT coerce people to shun family and friends on fear of suffering the same fate. Very few JWs I have ever met would act in this way unless it was demanded of them.

  I am saddened to hear that you choose to shun people who break the moral requirements of the bible. Of course there are crimes that would cause me to avoid association with others, but they are in the minority. One of the first things I learned as an ex-JW was to be less judgemental.

  The Watchtower's shunning policy is abusive, and religions who behave in this way should suffer sanctions. America has taken freedom of religion to ridiculous lengths.